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Bourgeois civilization has built railroads and electric power plants, has invented explosives and airplanes, in order to create wealth. Imperialism has placed the tools of peace in the service of destruction. With modern means it would be easy to wipe out humanity at one blow.

— Ludwig von Mises Nation, State, and Economy (1919)

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More quotes by Ludwig von Mises

Inflation is an increase in the quantity of money without a corresponding increase in the demand for money, i.e., for cash holdings.

The men who are to protect the community against violent aggression easily turn into the most dangerous aggressors. They transgress their mandate.

The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science (1962)

In a battle between force and an idea, the latter always prevails.

Liberalism (1927)

Repression by brute force is always a confession of the inability to make use of the better weapons of the intellect — better because they alone give promise of final success.

Liberalism (1927)

The criterion of truth is that it works even if nobody is prepared to acknowledge it.

The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science (1962)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ludwig von Mises (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.